Latest / Best of Business / Irene King: aviation commentator on Air New Zealand's plans to build a new luxury lounge

Transcript

Irene King: aviation commentator on Air New Zealand's plans to build a new luxury lounge · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks be follow
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: right Iron Bridge, Rich.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Good News this evening. If you don't want to sit
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: in a packed airport lounge, Air New Zealander is looking
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: at a new luxury lounge for elite flyers. They're being
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: tight lipped about the idea. It was floated apparently at
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: an invested day presentation. And if it looks anything like
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: what Quantus offers could include restaurants style dining and free massages,
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: wouldn't that be nice? Aviation commentator Irene King is with
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: me Iren good evening.
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: Good evening.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: So a lounge is a lounge, is a lounge, but
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: some are beautiful and some are crowded. Is Air New
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Zealand's lounges too crowded? Now?
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: I think so? I mean that's real. I think you know,
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: for the volume of the going through the use, how.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Much how much extra do you charge to put on
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: a fancy lounge? And if you continued you just do
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: one at one airport or do is there then an
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: expectation that you would have one everywhere?
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: Look, I've seen this concept floated about four or five times,
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: and I've seen it as executed once here in New Zealand,
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: so I think in per degree they're just flying a kite.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: But when they did execute it, it was so exclusive
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: that hardly anyone knew where it was. I saw it,
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: I knew it existed, and it was just intended to
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: be for the very high ball high you know, high
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: worse travelers. So most people were excluded, and most people
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: ended up in the normal lounge, and so the normal
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: lunge became very crowded. This particular lounge that they did
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: put in place lasted from remby about two years nets
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: because it's just not the demand here in New Zealand
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: for that level of exclusivity.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Right, how much would it cost?
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: Very expensive?
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, how much would it cost you to put it on?
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: Because you've got to start it all the time, too,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: don't you.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: Oh? Absolutely, And you know you're competing with Emirates, which
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: already has a high end lounge in Auckland, and you know,
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: any Ziland just doesn't offer the first class service. You know,
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: they just don't compete with the likes of Emirates, and
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: so the patronage is very low. The cost were very high,
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: you know, you do anything at Auckland Airport and the
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: costume down in the league and like I say, it
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: only lasted about two years because the demand he wasn't there.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Interesting, Irene, thanks for that. Irene King Aviation commentated with.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Us for more from news Talks, there'd be listen live
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: on air or online and keep our shows with you
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: wherever you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.